Western Pacific’s Diesel Years Strapac W3A

Western Pacific operates a 930-mile mainline between Salt Lake City, Utah and Oakland, California – as well as providing a 297-mile bridge between the Burlington Northern at Bieber and the Santa Fe at Stockton. With its subsidiaries, WP operates 1503 miles of main line track and 216 miles of branches. Although generally considered an east-west railway, WP runs primarily north and south in California. WP is a longtime advocate of the Short-Fast Train theory, preferring to run second sections instead of helpers. WP’s high-water mark for steam would have to be the year 1938, when five near-identical 2-8 8-2’s were added to the roster – along with seven Alco 4-6 6-4 Challengers. The fast coal-burners were limited to the high deserts where they labored in relatively unphotographed obscurity for eleven years before falling to the diesel. Steams final collapse on the Western Pacific took place between 1950 and 1953.

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